diff --git a/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_populate_release_directory.sh b/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_populate_release_directory.sh
index b87a8cb..99acded 100755
--- a/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_populate_release_directory.sh
+++ b/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_populate_release_directory.sh
@@ -84,12 +84,12 @@ _HLRS_SPACK_CONFIG_REPO=
 
 # bootstrap environment variables 
 # (using [bash process substitution](https://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/process-sub.html))
-source <(curl $_HLRS_SPACK_PLUMBING_REPO/hlrs-plumbing/envs/00_base_prefix.env)
-source <(curl $_HLRS_SPACK_PLUMBING_REPO/hlrs-plumbing/envs/01_release_root.env)
-source <(curl $_HLRS_SPACK_PLUMBING_REPO/hlrs-plumbing/envs/02_hlrs_spack_root.env)
+source <(curl -L $_HLRS_SPACK_PLUMBING_REPO/hlrs-plumbing/envs/00_base_prefix.env)
+source <(curl -L $_HLRS_SPACK_PLUMBING_REPO/hlrs-plumbing/envs/01_release_root.env)
+source <(curl -L $_HLRS_SPACK_PLUMBING_REPO/hlrs-plumbing/envs/02_hlrs_spack_root.env)
 
 # setup plumbing directory
-curl $_HLRS_SPACK_PLUMBING_REPO/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_checkout_repo.sh | \
+curl -L $_HLRS_SPACK_PLUMBING_REPO/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_checkout_repo.sh | \
   bash -s -- $_HLRS_SPACK_PLUMBING_REPO \
   $HLRS_SOFTWARE_STACK_RELEASE_VERSION $HLRS_SOFTWARE_STACK_RELEASE_ROOT .
 _HLRS_PLUMBING_DIR=$HLRS_SOFTWARE_STACK_RELEASE_ROOT/hlrs-plumbing